Bad news, Pistons fans: Until team is sold, roster questions likely to be unanswered

AP PhotoEven if the Pistons wanted to trade Tayshaun Prince and his expiring contract, it wouldn't be easy.

Detroit Pistons fans ask the same questions every day: When will the Pistons make a trade? Is John Kuester going to get fired? What about Joe Dumars?

The answer is the same every day: No one is getting traded, cut or fired -- or having their contract extended, their pay increased or their office painted, for that matter -- until the team is sold.

That is why the latest news involving the sale of the franchise is bad news for Pistons fans.

Reports surfaced Monday that Citibank, which was hired by the Pistons to help broker the sale of the team, has told potential buyers that the sale will not be completed until at least the All-Star game in February.

Due to the league’s lengthy approval process, that means an agreement would need to be reached in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, the Pistons are going nowhere.

No matter what people say publicly, progress is slowed when a franchise is going through a sale. Potential buyers don’t have lawyers and accountants pore over the books analyzing the value of a franchise only to have the numbers change at the last minute.

That is one of many reasons why the Pistons are not likely to trade Tayshaun Prince and his expiring contract for a player with two or three years remaining on his deal.

That is one of many reasons why no one should expect the team to fire Kuester and pay off the remainder of his contract.

It has been written before, but it is worth repeating: If Dumars worked out a trade today that would help the team, whom would he call to get the trade approved?

Karen Davidson, the current owner, would certainly have to OK it, but whoever is going to own the franchise in the future would want some input.

It is conceivable the new owners would approve moves during the time between when an agreement is reached and when the sale is closed, but there are no guarantees.

It would be fair to say that late February is now an optimistic guess for when a sale will be done. Even if the sale does go according to the new plan, that would not leave Dumars much time to get a deal done.

The All-Star game is set for Feb. 20. The trade deadline is Feb. 24.

On the court, the Pistons are grinding the gears, trying to find a way to move forward and win games with an unbalanced roster.

Off the court, the front office seems to be restricted in its ability to make moves to improve. That is unlikely to change until the team is sold.

The Pistons are stuck in neutral. And no one should expect them to kick things into high gear anytime soon.